International call for archer Carol

Louth and District Disabled Archery Club chairman Rick Smith with Stuart Rodgers and Carol Davies Picture: Archery GB EMN-160128-173943002

Carol, from Skegness, will travel to France later this month after being invited to shoot at an international classification event.

But perhaps the most important event of the season comes two months later in April when she will shoot for Great Britain at the European Championships for VI Archers, also in France.

Carol recently attended a ground-breaking performance-based coaching session at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Buckinghamshire.

The partially-sighted competitor, who is a member of the Louth and District Disabled Archery Club (LADDAC), joined clubmate Stuart Rodgers and club chairman and coach Rick Smith, who is also Stuart’s sighted spotter.

Stuart will also be  competing in France alongside Carol.

It was the first session for visually impaired archers, jointly run by British Wheelchair Archery and the British Blind Sports Associations, and supported by Wheel Power.

The scheme allows the BWAA to provide extra facilities at their training weekends to create a central base for coaching.

If successful, the BBSA hopes to launch a permanent programme later this year.

Stuart, from Sutton-on-Sea, took up archery just 16 months ago and only made his competitive debut in January 2015.

Last April he finished second at the British Blind Sports Indoor Archery Championships, at Lilleshall, where the met Skegness archer Carol who agreed to join the Louth club.

Carol, a Women’s Royal Army Corps veteran, was registered with severely impaired vision in the 1980s and became hooked on archery two-and-a-half years ago.

The pair represented Louth at the BBSA Outdoor Championships last September and finished second and third respectively in their classifications.

The results earned them an invite to join the British team for the European Championships.

Rick said: “All we have done has been self-financed. Even our GB team shirts will have to be bought so any sponsorship would be most appreciated.

“We are a registered charity and could do so much more if funds were made available to us.”